Artemis
by Kaya Jade
Summary: AvP movie with a twist. Three hunters entered pyramid to hunt. One of them is different. More blood than in movie and PredatorHuman relationship ( ScarLex ).
1. Default Chapter

My first AvP fic. Be kind and understanding. This will differ a lot from the movie, mainly in the rating, which is R for several reasons.  
This is unbetaed - forgive any mistakes, I'm not from English speaking country.

Disc.: I own nothing. Everything belongs to guys in L.A. I don't know and there is absolutely no money in it for me.

The cold wind swept over the ice plains of Antarctica, masking the approach of massive alien spacecraft. It slowly descented in strong wind, not bothered by it in least. On its bottom opened three circular holes which three tubes shot out from, landing in the snow beneath the ship. They slowly opened from inside and three humanoid figures stood up, flexing themselves and growling something to each other. Then, as by some kind of agreement, they turned to observe what lied in front of them.

The Bouvetoya whaling station seemed deserted on the first sight, but on the second sight one could recognize people moving around, securing equipment and cursing weather. There was only one man keeping watch. He paced up and down, trying to keep warm in fast wind. Suddenly, there was a movement in the darkness behind his back. He turned around, aiming his gun, but there was nothing. Only wind blew snow around buildings. The man calmed down, when it came again. He hold his gun tighter and called out.

"It's not funny!"

Nothing. Just a silence as even the wind stopped to blow. He decided that it must have been his imagination. He turned to go inside and found himself face to face with a cold impassive mask of an armed being he didn't know. He stepped back, raising gun as he did so. The being cocked its head and then, before the guard could even move, a hissing sound came, the metal glinted in a weak light coming from where the tunnel was and then pain erupted. The wrist blades caught the man in the stomach and went up, slicing him, his guts popping out. The man didn't even manage to emitt a sound and fell down, dead. His killer shoved the blades back into their sheats and turned to where its two companions unveiled. One of them looked over the corpse and then growled. To human being it might have been only an animalistic sound, but to these beings it was language.

"Do you have to spill so much blood?"

"No," the killer answered. "But I want to. They stand in the way. We have to get rid of them. You know it, Scar."

The creature called Scar nodded and pointed to the building.

"The rest of them are there. I'll go from the front. Blade," he turned to killer. "You go through that window. And you, Celtic, go from back."

The two of them nodded. Scar was the oldest of them and therefore was in charge. They activated their cloaking devices and entered the building as they had agreed on before. The men inside didn't stand a chance against these creatures. Scar went through the door and impaled the closest man to him before anyone in the room realized what was going on. They only saw as one of them choked, there was a spray of blood and a long metalic spear appeared from nowhere to protrude his torso. And then all hell broke loose.

Window crashed and it seemed as an air moving towards them. The blades moved with a hiss through the air as Blade once again used its preferred weapon to clearly separate a head from the body. The blood that landed on its armor made it seem as though there was a pool of blood hanging in the air. It approached another man deliberately and slowly. The man was frozen in fear. Behind them, Scar and Celtic were disposing of the others, but Blade's attention was directed solely on this man. Blade switched off its cloaking and growled menacingly to the man. He backed off, raising hands, begging.

"Please, no! Don't kill me!"

Blade took one last step, towering over the man, who was now kneeling, a pathetic image of helplessness and snarled at him.

"Weak!" the words were spoken in heavily accented English and punctuated with a spear that broke through the man's chest, killing him and spilling more blood on an already dirty floor. This man was the last one to kill. The trio of killers quickly set to its work. They hanged men upside down, using supporting beams in the building. However, they didn't take their skins off. There was no time for it. There was something bigger in front of them. The first big Hunt. These men were only a minor nuisance before their final goal and ultimate prey.

Scar noticed Blade being silent throughout the work. It was strange, beacuse Blade enjoyed every opportunity to get hands dirty from blood.

"What' s wrong?" Scar asked.

Blade looked away and then back at Scar.

"Humans are so weak and pathetic. They are not worthy prey."

"There are exceptions."

Blade nodded at that and continued its work. Soon they were finished and left the building that had become a witness to such a bloody slaughter.

The three Hunters marched alongside each other to the tunnel. If there had been anyone left alive to observe, he would have noticed that while Scar and Celtic towered to height of seven and a half feet, Blade was of more subtle build. Its height was only about six feet and some inches. Impressive when compared to a human, but slightly silly in the presence of the other two Hunters. They stopped at the beginning of the tunnel. Scar flipped open his arm computer and a holographic image of a pyramid appeared. There were red dots indicating humans and a green dot in the very heart of the pyramid, which was the Xenomorph Queen, ready to lay eggs. Everything was prepared for a Hunt. The hunters looked at each other and then went down the tunnel.

TBC

Please, leave a review of what you think about this. I'll try to have a new chapter out in a week. We'll meet Lex in it and find out more about Blade. 


	2. 2

Here's the second chapter. The first one was just a set-up and so is this one. Lot of dialogue and almost no action. But I'll kick up the action in the next post. One thing I forgot to tell in the first chapter - I've only seen movies about Predators and Aliens (although all seven). I've never read any novels or comics, so everything I'm writing here is based on my theories and wishful thinking. Please, bear that in mind when you find any mistakes or inconsistencies.

MadPuppy : My mother language is Slovak. It comes from Slavonian language branch, just like Russian, though it's a quite different. And I'm glad you like my idea about Scar/Lex C2 community.

Many thanks to my bro who helped me with his game based knowledge of Predators' weaponry. And also thanks for your reviews.

Disc.: I still own nothing. Wait, I own Blade and the plot. But the rest isn't mine. Such a pity.

The pyramid was silent as Alexa Woods led her team deeper into its insides. A beam from her flashlight travelled aross the walls and every so often she checked her compass to make sure they were moving in the right direction. The pyramid was like a gigantic maze. Whoever had built it had made a good job of it. Lex heard Sebastian's excited murmur about the hieroglyphs they were passing along which was mixed with Miller's chattering about an impossibility of the pyramid being so old. She more felt than heard Weyland fighting for his breath, his destroyed lungs desperately trying to pump some oxygen into his body. The long strides of Max Stafford and two hired mercenaries Verheiden and Connors echoed soundly throughout the empty corridor. Lex knew they were armed but for some unknown reason the fact made her nervous. She couldn't shake off a feeling that something was terribly wrong, though she didn't have the slightest idea what. It was just a gut instinct but she had learned to trust it a long time ago. Without it, she would have been long dead, killed on some mountain where the tiniest mistake could have meant the end.

And there were those frescos, depicting a fight between a tall humanoid warrior and some kind of ... demon, as she called it for a lack of better word. The two beings were locked in a deadly combat and Lex suspected that the fight could have had only one winner. She remembered the translation Sebastian and Thomas had made in the sacrificial chamber.

'They gave their lives ... So that the hunt might begin.'

What type of hunt might have gone on in this ancient building? She looked at the fresco where the humanoid figure had the demon impaled on some kind of spear. Maybe the human looking ones had hunted the others? But why the sacrifices then?

She was brought out of her thoughts when their group stopped in the front of a door. Lex consulted her compass and then turned to the others.

"The room behind this door should be the one under the chamber."

She pushed open the door, noticing the layer of dust on it. They were greeted by the sight of the flares they had dropped in earlier and knew that, indeed, they were in the right place. This room was only sparsely decorated and the most interesting object inside was a massive sarcophagus. Weyland motioned for Max and Verheiden to move the lid aside and open it. However, the lid didn't move an inch, though they pushed with all their might. Sebastian came closer and swept his flashlight beam along the surface, noticing the hieroglyphs carved into its surface.

"Step aside. It's time for brains to replace brawn."

Verheiden glared at him but did as he was told. Sebastian leaned over the lid, brushing away the dust that covered it. There were three metal dials on it.

"What is it?" Lex asked.

"Some kind of combination lock," he answered in deep thought. "This is the Long Count," he said, studying the pictograms and hieroglyphs. "The calendar. Days, months, years. This must be the combination," he looked again on the dials. "Days ... months ... years ..."

"But what date?" Lex wanted to know, feeling it was important. Sebastian hasitated, doing translation in his head and then said.

"1904. Exactly one hundred years ago."

"Someone opened this a hundred years ago?" Lex asked, not believing what he said. A memory flashed through her head. About how she told Sebastian and Miller about the mystery of Bouvetoya whaling station. How everyone had disappeared ...in 1904. One hundred years ago. When the sarcophagus had been opened last time. Could there have been a connection? She hoped from her heart that not, because the implications of it, if it turned out the truth, were just too damn terrible to think about.

"Only one way to find out. What's today's date?" Sebastian turned to the sarcophagus.

"October 10th," Lex replied. Sebastian turned the dials.

"10 ... 10 ... 2004," he murmured.

"You sure this is going to work?" Weyland asked the archaelogist.

"I don't know," he admitted as he positioned the dials into their places. When they did, something clicked and the sarcophagus started to open on its own. Everyone waited until the movement stopped and then it was Sebastian who peered into its dark interior.

"Take a look at this."

They gathered to gaze onto some kind of guns. There was no way the objects inside could have been anything else, although the design was absolutely unknown. Sebastian whispered.

"The master culture."

The three hunters stood at the bottom of the tunnel, looking towards the pyramid which towered in its majesty high above them. All three of them had mixed feelings about entering it, knowing what waited inside. Hunt and excitement. Pain and death. It defined who they were. They had been preparing for this occasion for a long time. None of them would step back even if they could. The Hunt like this was once in a lifetime and it was an honour they had been chosen to perform it.

Scar glanced on his companions. Both of them looked calm and composed, ready to fight. Scar let his gaze linger on Blade whose height seemed to be a handicap in comparison to Scar and Celtic's impressive built, though Scar knew that what Blade missed in the growth and visible muscles was compensated in the speed, reflexes and close-combat ability. However, one thing worried him. Blade was too eager to kill, too eager to just slash with its wrist blades and bringing death to anything and anyone. Scar made a mental note to look after his younger sibling. Its difference didn't matter to him 'cause he knew what Blade was capable of and that you would harder find more formidable opponent. But maybe, maybe a little precaution was in place.

With his mind set, Scar started towards the pyramid with the other two behind him. They walked quickly and purposefully, approaching the greatest challenge in their lives. They didn't hurry. Their instructions said they were to retrieve the shoulder cannons and after they did so, the pyramid would close, changing into a battleground. They knew about the humans who had entered the pyramid to become the hosts for the first stage of Xenomorphs' living cycle but they were of a little consequence to them. Most of humans were weak beings, too easy to kill, as had proved their encounter on the surface. Although, as Scar had said to Blade, there were exceptions. Scar once again glanced on the shorter Warrior. Yes, exceptions indeed.

They neared the stairs leading to the pyramid when Scar's wrist computer beeped. He quickly flipped it on and immediately saw a changed signal from the pyramid. He exchanged worried looks with his companions. The humans must have found the weapons.

"Run!" he yelled and broke into a sprint. Celtic and Blade followed suit, bounding up the stairs and into the pyramid just as the entrance started to close with a heavy slab of stone.

"Stupid humans!" Blade muttered as they managed to enter the pyramid right before it closed and cut them from the outside world. "What do we do now?"

"Find the humans, take them our weapons and kill the prey," Scar replied. "This is just a minor inconvenience. We cannot be stopped."

They couldn't see each other's expression under the masks but Scar guessed there was a predatory smile ( A/N: Sorry, couldn't resist :) ) on Blade's face when their vision was switched to infrared.

"You're right. We'll get them all," and the wrist blades, still covered in blood, slid out of their sheats into ready position.

Everyone stared down at the weapons laying in the sarcophagus. Miller was the first one to break the silence.

"Any idea what those are?"

"Nope. You?" Sebastian turned to chemical engineer.

"No."

"Good thing we brought in the experts," Max said sarcastically. Miller turned to him in anger.

"Hey. We just found the equivalent of a DVD player in Moses' living room. Why don't you give us a second to figure it out?"

"Well to me, it looks like sophisticated weaponry."

Lex left them to argue to look at Weyland who was taking his oxygen from the bottle. She absent-mindedly replied to Sebastian's question about him, dismissing Weyland's breathing difficulties as an asthma. She knew Weyland didn't want to look weak in front of the others. He reminded her of her father in this. He, too, had never showed any weakness and had taught her to do the same. In the meantime, Miller was examining the weapons and found out the surprising results.

"There are two chemicals here. Tilanium and Cadmium 240," he announced.

"Never heard of them," Sebastian commented.

"They're found in meteorites," Miller explained.

"Meteorites?"

"Whatever these are, they weren't made here," Miller continued but Sebastian interrupted him.

"When you say here, you mean...?"

"Earth."

Everyone but Lex was stunned by this. She concentrated on Weyland who looked worse and worse with every passing moment. It wasn't good for him to dwell so long in here. And besides, her nervousness had increased at least tenfold since they had discovered the weapons. She came to a decision and turned to the group.

"We've been out long enough for today. We're going to set up base camp tonight at the whaling station and we'll get back at it first thing tomorrow morning."

"You can go back to base camp Ms. Woods. We're going to stay here," Max told her but Lex wasn't about to have any of this bullshit. She came closer to him and spoke in her best leader's voice.

"You wanted to leave without proper prep and we did. You wanted to be the first here, we are. You've claimed the find. It's yours. Now we move as a team and we're done for today," she wasn't very tall but she was determined to pass her point. Her chin stubbornly raised, hands planted on her hips and a fierce look in her eyes made Max look over to Weyland who nodded his consent.

"You heard her."

They started to leave when Max asked.

"What should we do about the guns, Mr. Weyland?"

"Take them. We can run further tests on the surface."

Both Connors and Max reached inside just as Sebastian and Lex called out not to touch them. Too late. As soon as the last weapon was out of the sarcophagus something clicked and the room started to change. The walls moved, closing off the way they had come from and opening a new one. Shouts echoed throughout the chamber to be joined with the others from the chamber above them.

The scientists left in the sacrificial chamber to collect samples gazed at the shattered remains of one of the metal cases they tried to use to stop the descent of heavy stones which had cut them off from the rest of the pyramid. They tried to push one aside but it was a vain attempt. They could have as well tried to move with the pyramid itself. They gave up and then a sound from the stone slab made them to turn around. In the bowl-shaped place, where they had thought a heart of the victim had been placed, arose a strange egg-like object. All people in the room stared fascinately as six others joined the first one. And then, like some bizarre flower, the eggs started to open.

"What did you say this room was called?" Rousseau asked as she raised her Colt.45 and switched off safety.

"The Sacrificial Chamber," Thomas swallowed hard, obviously scared. And then it happened. A spider-like creature with a long tail launched itself from each egg and leaped towards humans. Rousseau aimed and pulled the trigger. One shot ... two ... three... All of them missed. The creature was too fast and it landed on her face. She staggered, trying to pull it away, clawing at it with her hands, screaming for help. The only response were similar screams echoing around her, telling her she wasn't the only one fighting the creature.

Its tail slowly winded around her neck, tightening her throat. She gasped for breath and fell something slid inside her mouth. She gagged and tried very hard to stop its advance. She managed to grab the creature's leg and pulled at it. It screeched, not liking it in least. She pulled stronger, adrenaline and fear giving her needed strength. She tore away one of its legs. A liquid splashed from the wound, hitting her hand. It hurt like hell and immediately started to eat away on her flesh. Adele cried out in pain and let go of the creature. It resumed its attack and Adele had no strength left to fight. The tube found its way into her throat and laid down the embryo of Xenomorph, making the woman unconscious in the process.

The room now was silent in stark contrast to what had been happening there only seconds before. All six people laid unconscious on the cold floor, facehuggers on their faces as some kind of ritual masks. And in their insides, the demons started to grow.

TBC

So, what do you think? Leave me a review, please. Bad or good, I want both. Look forward to lots of blood and gore in the next chapter which should be up in less than a week as well. Oh, and Lex and Scar will finally meet and the secret of Blade will be revealed as well ( maybe : P ). Until then...

P.S.: I was watching Pitch Black recently again and there was this quote : "All you people are so scared of me. Most days I'd take that as a compliment, but it ain't me ya gotta worry about." Richard. B. Riddick, escaped convict, murderer

See ya! 


	3. 3

So I'm back. Sorry for the delay, I was down with a flu and couldn't get out of bed, not to mention write. First of all, many thanks for reviews, they really made my day. To answer some of the questions - I've been repeating parts of the movie to get better under characters' skin. From now on, the story you remember from the cinema will keep twisting and changing, mainly thanks to Blade - you'll find out what I'm talking about. By the way, I already have the ending for this fic written and boy, is it good! I love it more and more every time I read it :).

Disc.: Still not mine. D'oh!

The echoes of screams and shootings carried throughout the pyramid to the small team assembled in the sarcophagus chamber. Max and Sebastian were trying to get in touch with others on the radio but there was no answer. Lex shook her head and swiped a beam from her flashlight along the walls of one of the corridors which had opened to them, pondering their options. The way they had come from was closed. They'd have to find another way out of here and to the others.

"All right, move it people. We need to get to the others to find out what happened. We go that way and than turn right. I've seen some kind of a crossroad further down the corridor. Hopefully, it'll take us into one of those corridors we passed on the way down. I repeat again - keep it close together. The group mustn't split. Is that understood?"

There was a choir of yes and Lex started down the corridor. She knew they were in trouble. Hell, who was she kidding? They were in deep shit, she just didn't know yet what kind of it. She prayed it was only a trap set up for unwary thiefs and not something else. Something more dangerous. Verheiden came to walk alongside her. She didn't spare him a glance, focused on the way ahead. However, he wanted something.

"Here, take this," he handed her a pistol.

"What is it?" she asked, confused about the whole thing. She was a climber, not soldier. She didn't use guns, of any kind.

"We don't know what awaits us up there. It's for your safety."

"Thanks, but I don't need it. I don't like guns."

He shrugged as if to say it didn't matter to him whether she was as stupid as to refuse the offered gun or not. He slowed down to bring up the rear with Connors who handed him one of the alien guns to carry it. Lex noted this and frowned. They had had no right to take those weapons. They were what had landed them in the trouble. Why didn't they see it? Stupid men. Get them new toy and they throw caution in the wind.

They came to the crossroad and Lex turned right as she had planned. She expected to enter another long corridor but after a short walk they found themselves in a chamber of some type. There were four exits from it. Lex stopped to think about their next way. The pyramid turned out to be the real maze. She looked at the compass and pointed in the right side again.

"All right, now we should go..." she didn't finish because a sound came from the pyramid and it started to change again. Lex thought for a moment they should try to run to the next chamber but one look at Weyland told her he wouldn't make it. "Everyone stay here."

Max, Verheiden and Connors looked at her in surprise. They were just about to try and enter the next room before it closed off but then stopped when she ordered so.

"We can't split up," Lex repeated and glanced pointedly at Weyland. Max nodded. He knew his boss' health wasn't the best and so he motioned for his men to stay in their places. Lex looked around the room and realized very unpleasant thing. There were no exits now from the room. They had to stay in until a new way opened to them. Lex didn't know how long they would have to wait but there was nothing she could do about the situation.

"Lex?" Sebastian asked.

"Make yourself comfortable. We'll wait."

Three hunters stopped as the pyramid shifted again. Blade growled impatiently for about sixth time since they entered the building and Scar's patience was wearing thin as well. Hunter had to be patient. If he rushed something the hunt might have ended with him dead. Blade was good in killing but still had a lot to learn in hunting. The growl came again.

"Blade," Scar said lowly and menacingly. "Shut up. Your complaints won't help anything. We'd have to wait six hours either way to hunt Xenomorphs. This way we can pass our time better while hunting humans but you should show some self-control and stop to bother us with your problems."

"And what gives you right to order me around?" Blade snapped back.

"Being your older brother does. You wanted to go on hunt. I thought you weren't ready. No," Scar raised his hand. "Physically you are prepared as much as any of us but I'm not sure you're ready mentally. So please, for once prove me wrong and behave like an adult."

Blade didn't answer and quickened the pace, leaving Scar and Celtic behind. Scar shook his head. Hopefully, Blade would come around. Celtic had watched their exchange and now wanted to add his two cents in.

"Don't worry about it. All females are strange. That's what makes them so dangerous."

Scar shot him a look.

"You think I don't know it? I've grown up with one. One that wanted to be a Hunter," he nodded to Blade. "It's not unusual to have a female warrior but it's not an everyday occurence either. I want her to gain the honour but I can't let her to jeopardize our lives."

Celtic shrugged and then steered conversation in a different direction.

"Where are the humans?'

Scar switched the holographic image on and studied it for a moment.

"One group of them is in sacrificial chamber. They aren't moving. Probably have been infected. Six of them," he looked up. "Two xenomorphs for each of us. Not so bad. The other group is two rooms left," Scar checked something. "The way to them should open soon. Call Blade. We need to make a plan."

Blade was still furious. How had he dared to talk to her like she was a small child? Alll right, maybe she was young but she could hunt even better than him. If only he let her prove it. But no! Mr 'I'm-your-older-brother-you'll-listen-to-me' had to keep her on short leash. She was in a terrible mood and didn't take notice of her surroundings much so when Celtic came and touched her shoulder to let her know he was there, she whipped around, bringing up her wrist blades to bury them into a supposed attacker so quickly he barely had the time to unsheath his own set and save himself at least a very painful injury of the chest.

When Blade noticed who she had attacked she hid her blades again but didn't apologize. His fault for not being more careful.

"What do you want?"

"We found the humans. Scar wants us to make a plan."

Blade wanted to say something derrogatory about what Scar could do with his plan but then changed her mind. He could ban her from joining in hunt and she didn't want that. So she walked back to where Scar was still studying the hologram. There was a group of dots not so far from their position. Scar looked at her when she came but didn't say anything. He looked one last time at the three-dimensional map and nodded to himself, then switched it off.

"I thought about it and we'll go in using our cloaking devices. I don't want them to see us. We just take back our weapons. We won't kill them."

Both Blade and Celtic looked surprised at this but Blade was the one to voice her doubt.

"Why? It's not like it would be very hard or what."

"I know. That's one of the reasons. They offer no challenge for our potential. The other reason is, that only six of the humans were infected. It would be easy to dispose of the Xenomorphs that come out of them. But if we let these humans live, they may find other eggs or we can let few of the first ones to get them."

"So we'll have more to hunt," Celtic understood. "That sounds better."

Blade just nodded. She wasn't exactly happy about this arrangement but it had its logic. Let them live now and you'd have more to hunt later. Yes, it sounded good when she thought about it.

"Which way?" she asked.

Sebastian wasn't able to sit peacefully. He was walking around the room, checking writings on the walls and talking to himself.

"I think I figured it out."

"What?" Lex asked from where she sat next to Weyland whose condition was deteriorating with every minute passed.

"The changes are regular. This pyramid has different layout every ten minutes," his eyes shone with an excitement. "This is far beyond any technology mankind has ever had. There are thousands, maybe even more combinations. The culture to build this must have been superior to ours in every way."

"That's great Sebastian but I only need to know one thing - when will it change again?"

That she was obviously not interested dampened his mood a little.

"A minute, maybe thirty seconds."

"Good. Let's prepare. As soon as that walls open I want us all to go as fast as possible for as long as possible. We have only ten minutes to get through some distance to the surface so don't fall behind and ..." the pyramid moved. "Let's go."

They followed her. She tried to keep an eye on Weyland to make sure he didn't have any problems. She knew the tempo she had chosen was hard for him but it was all for him. They needed to get him to safety as soon as possible. She cursed herself for letting him come though she had known he hadn't been in any shape for it. Well, too late now to blame anyone for spilled milk.

They moved together for about two minutes when Lex felt something like a breeze. It was like someone had just walked by. She slowed down, looking around but seeing nothing. She picked up the pace again to get into the chamber ahead. Behind her group, three Hunters turned to follow them. The energetic readings told them their shoulder cannons were carried by the three men in the back line who had the weapons of their own as well. Scar measured them up. They shouldn't be hard to defeat. The tallest of them reached a little over Blade's shoulders. The other humans he didn't even take into consideration. Although, he had passed too close by the woman in the lead and somehow, she had sensed him. He had seen her to slow and look around, searching for something. Luckily, no one else had noticed. He'd have to be more careful next time.

The group of both humans and their hunter followers continued its trek through the pyramid. Scar wanted to wait until they were in a chamber so the risk of getting more dead than alive humans would be less. And one chamber was coming ahead. He softly gave Blade and Celtic signal. They acknowledged it and prepared themselves.

Lex entered the next room and stopped in surprise. While the other rooms they had been in had four exits each, this one had eight of them. She signalled for others to stop. She didn't want to get them lost. She turned around to look at the people gathered behind her who relied on her to get them to safety. She glanced at everyone to try to judge how they coped with the situation. Miller looked slightly nervous, Weyland was about to faint, Sebastian still had that air of being in historical heaven and Max, Verheiden and Connors wore typical soldier's expressions. And behind them...

"What the..." Lex started. She wasn't sure but it seemed as if the air was moving towards them. She tried to focus on what it was but it moved too quickly. It jumped on Connors who fell down. Two similar things attacked Verheiden and Max. Unfortunately for them, they didn't manage to get their pistols and then it was too late. The alien weapons were yanked from their grips and as fast as the attack had begun it was over. The three soldiers laid on the floor, the weapons seemed to float in the air until they disappeared from the sight as well. Lex ran over to help the three men to stand up.

"What was that?" she asked. When she looked back to where the weapons had disappeared she could make out the moving air in humanoid form. "What is that?" she pointed to it.

Verheiden and Connors took out their guns and clicked off the safety while Max pushed Lex away. She realized what they wanted to do and reached her hand to cover Max's pistol.

"No!" she said. "Let it be!"

Max shook off her hand and nodded to the other two. They raised their weapons and started to shoot. At first it seemed they really were taking shots on an air but then a sickening noise of bullet hitting flesh sounded and a neon-green fluid appeared closely followed by a growl. The growl sounded again but this time from the other side and then something slammed into Verheiden and sent him flying against the wall.

All had seemed to go well, Blade mused. Humans had been so surprised they hadn't even defended themselves. But then, just as they were ready to leave, the three men took out the weapons and started shooting. Blade saw the only other female in the room try to stop them and realized that no matter where in the universe they were, females were always the more clever gender. The shooting didn't bother her. It wasn't as if they were able to see them. But then, by some kind of stupid luck on humans' side, they hit Celtic. He growled in pain and Blade felt herself go into killing mode. They hurt one of her friends. She growled too and launched herself at the nearest human. She slammed into him and he impacted with the wall. But that wasn't enough for her. She raised her hands. She could have blasted him with her shoulder cannon but she preferred to be more personal.

Verheiden was about to get up when he felt something raise him into the air and sent him into the wall again. This time he stayed laying, crumbled at the bottom of the wall which depicted how the hunters had disposed of those who had crossed their path. The two falls had left him desorientated and unable of defending himself. He barely registered shouting of the others when the something came for the third time.

Lex watched as Verheiden flew across the room, flinged away by something very strong. Connors and Max looked unsure about what to do and stopped shooting. Verheiden tried to get up when the something hit him again. He looked like a puppet being dragged around by strings. Lex frantically looked around. She noticed that the green liquid on the floor was expanding, trickling from the air.

'Oh my God,' she thought. 'It's blood. They are bleeding just like us.' Her eyes sought out the source of the bleeding and she could make out two figures standing next to each other, one of them obviously supporting the other. Lex realized they hadn't wanted to hurt them. They had just wanted their weapons back.

"Don't shoot again!" Lex screamed at Connors and Max. "They'll let us be just don't shoot!"

The two of them were so confused they lowered their weapons but then Verheiden screamed. Everyone turned to him. He was laying on the ground, struggling with something which had him pinned down. Blade kneeled on the man's chest and was about to strike down when another thought entered her mind. She pressed one button on her arm computer and her cloaking disappeared. She ignored Scar who was shouting at her to cloak again and the surprised cries from the humans. She leaned over the man under her and raised her wrist blades for him to see. Then with a precise and efficient movement she jerked the blades from left to right and sliced his throat. The blood came out as a geysir from the torn jugular aorta and landed on her mask. Then she felt a pain in her arm as something hit her. She hissed and turned around, ready to strike.

While Lex and the others in her group were watching as a tall figure appeared on Verheiden, Scar cursed. Had Blade lost her mind? He watched her as she sliced the man's throat and readied his shoulder's cannon. These humans were able to inflict damage upon them. Celtic's wound was deep and they needed to get him away and take care of it, not to play with their prey. He set the targeting system on and let the three laser dots move on one of the men with weapons.

Lex tried to hold back bile that had arisen in her throat at the sight of dead Verheiden. Too late she realized that Connors and Verheiden started shooting again and this time they could have seen what they were aiming at. She saw one of the bullets graze the creature's arm. It hissed in pain and annoyance and turned towards them. Seeing it deal with Verheiden, Lex didn't doubt it was about to finish them off as well. But before it could move further, a growl sounded from behind them, where the injured creature was with the other.

Blade stopped when Scar told her to. She saw his shoulder cannon ready and so she stood up and cockily approached the humans. One of them raised the gun again but the female was quicker this time and stood between the muzzle and Blade, blocking his shot.

"Are you out of your mind Woods?" Max cried out as she jumped in front of his pistol. "Why are you saving it?"

"I'm saving us," she snapped back and pointed behind his back. He turned around to see that there were two other creatures like the one that had killed Verheiden. Both of them had the weapons they had found in the sarcophagus. One of those weapons was currently trained in their direction and a narrow red light was coming out of it. Max followed its trajectory with his eyes until he found triangular shape made of three red dots on his chest. Targeting system. He felt his throat go very dry.

Lex watched the alien with weapon carefully. It didn't seem intent on killing them. No, it looked like it only wanted to get its comrades to safety. Fine, she wanted the same, so they could find some kind of an understanding. She knew what she had to do. She reached out to take the gun from Connors. He protested but she silenced him with a kick. The dots moved on her when she took the weapon. She raised it by muzzle and then slowly laid it on the ground. The dots moved back on Max.

"Lay the pistol down," Lex hissed at him.

"What? And let them kill us?"

"They'll do it if you don't do what I say."

Max grumbled but did what she asked him to do. The red dots were still there and the creature made some gesture. The other one behind them, the one which killed Verheiden, growled in annoyance. The answer it got was a growl in loud, commanding tone and the creature started to walk to the others. As it walked round them, the blades it carried on wrists slid back into their sheaths with a loud click.

"Bastard!" Connors said.

Scar watched Blade carefully, trying to make sure none of the humans threatened her. He let his gaze linger on the human woman who returned it as if feeling he was watching her. Her interference saved the whole situation. He hadn't wanted to kill them all but he'd have had to, to assure Blade's safety. The woman certainly had the courage. She trusted him to keep his end of their unspoken bargain - I won't let them kill your friend and you won't kill us. It was amazing how they made an agreement only with looks. He nodded at her in respect. She seemed confused by the gesture but returned it. Scar then supported Celtic's massive form, quickly assured himself with a glance that Blade's wound was only a graze and switched off his shoulder cannon. The three hunters quickly left the room behind.

Lex still couldn't get over what had just transpired. She could have sworn that when her gaze had met the gaze of the alien she had known what it thought. It even nodded at her as if to acknowledge that she had made the right thing. And somewhere deep down Lex had known it could have been trusted to let them live if they gave up their weapons. And it did. Thank God, it did! Lex sank to her knees and the pyramid changed again.

TBC

Ha! I'm evil, evil, evil, evil! Sorry, too many antibiotics. So, what do you think? Blade, Scar/Lex interaction? Let me know. 


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